Just got word that Paul Williams — aka Pavlik’s nemesis — is sitting ringside. If

Just got word that Paul Williams — aka Pavlik’s nemesis — is sitting ringside. If Pavlik wins tonight, look for that fight to finally get made.

Lucian Bute KO’d Edison Miranda in the third round on the first fight of HBO’s broadcast. Miranda was expected to be one of boxing’s biggest names until he was knocked out by Kelly Pavlik in Memphis in May 2007. Pavlik, of course, went on to knock out Jermain Taylor later that year to win the middleweight belts.

I’d say they have about 7,000 fans inside Boardwalk Hall, which is pretty good considering Sergio Martinez didn’t bring any fans, the economy stinks and it’s April. In my opinion, this crowd should be considered a success. It makes you wonder what would happen if they didn’t have to rely so heavily on Youngstown fans to fill the place for Pavlik’s fights. All four of his bouts here have been ridiculously one- sided from a fan standpoint.

New YSU football coach Eric Wolford and most of his staff flew into Atlantic City on a charter Friday afternoon for the bout. “Just a little bonding time outside of football,” said assistant Ron Stoops. Wide receivers coach Phil Longo is a New Jersey native — he grew up about an hour from Atlantic City — but hadn’t been to the city in about six years. He arrived around 9:15 p.m. with defensive coordinator Rick Kravitz and Wolford’s father, Tom. “I fought for seven years, so I’m really looking forward to this,” Longo said. “This is my old stomping grounds.” Kravitz, a south Florida native, had never been to a fight before. “I’m excited,” he said. “He was my co-coordinator for the spring game, so I’m looking forward to cheering him on. I never had the opportunity to go to a fight before, but I already feel like I’m part of the Youngstown family.” Tom Wolford joined his son Eric at the second Pavlik-Jermain Taylor fight in February of 2008.

Referee for the Pavlik- Martinez bout is David Fields. The judges are Craig Metcalfe (Canada), Barbara Perez (New Jersey) and Roberto Ramirez (Puerto Rico).

Famed boxing announcer Michael “Let’s get ready to rumble” Buffer will call tonight’s main event. Joe Antonacci is undercard announcer.

The best quote I didn’t use this weekend came from Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, who was asked why Sergio Martinez’s promoter, Lou DiBella, wasn’t at Friday’s weigh-in. “Lou is also an owner of a [minor league] baseball team that had its first game last night, so I don’t know, maybe he’s firing the manager or something,” he said. DiBella arrived soon afterward.

Campbell’s Chris Hazimihalis weighed 136, while Ramon Ellis weighed 139 1‚Ñ2 at Friday’s weigh-in. Although the lightweight limit is 132, I think they were fighting at 136 and Ellis didn’t make weight. When I asked Hazimihalis about it Friday, he said, “I don’t know what they’re going to do. I’m hoping they throw me an extra $100.” Then, when I saw Hazimihalis a few hours later, he said he still didn’t know if it had been resolved. I thought it was funny that Kelly Pavlik is fighting for $2.5 million tonight and Hazimihalis was just hoping for an extra $100.